Previous administration did not want to cooperate with Swiss government.
The Swiss government had offered assistance to authorities in Malaysia in the investigation of the 1MDB scandal, but it was turned down by the previous administration, said the Swiss ambassador to Malaysia.
Free Malaysia Today news portal reported that Michael Winzap said his government had asked for Malaysia’s cooperation in its own investigations into the scandal.
But Winzap said the Barisan Nasional (BN) government had then claimed that cooperating with Swiss authorities over the 1MDB investigations could have a negative effect on local investigations.
“But it was not our decision, we wanted the cooperation. We were immediately ready after the change of government,” he was quoted as telling FMT.
Two months after the fall of the BN government last year, Swiss Attorney-General Michael Lauber visited his Malaysian counterpart Tommy Thomas to discuss investigations into 1MDB.
Lauber said Swiss authorities were investigating six people for alleged involvement in the 1MDB scandal and that two Swiss banks were under suspicion.